This invention relates to fasteners for track slide assemblies, and in particular, relates to fasteners which attach utility objects to a medical wall along a track integral with the wall. The invention further relates to track fasteners which are moveable along the track and can be adjusted to varying positions on the track assembly on the wall.
Prior art fasteners in the past have comprised a elongated track integrally formed or attached to a wall. The track has a generally rectangular inner shape with an elongated opening extending therefrom. A bolt assembly is disposed within the rectangular opening of the track and extends through the elongated opening allowing for a utility item such as a light, a basket, or arm support to be connected to the bolt and retained on the wall by virtue of the bolt and track. In most applications, loosening the bolt allows the utility item mounted thereon to be moved along the track to varying positions. In the past, the bolt and hence utility item was mounted on the track through a single enlarged area in the elongated opening. This enlarged area permitted the bolt assembly to be placed in the rectangular area of the track for movement up and down the track. Since the walls of the rectangular area adjacent the elongated opening were not wide enough to permit the bolt assembly to pass through, the bolt assembly would be captively held within the track, except when it was at the single enlarged area. While this permitted the bolt assembly to be moved to various positions along the track, it did mean that in order to remove the bolt assembly from the track the bolt assembly had to first be moved to the enlarged opening.
In medical wall applications where the track assembly is mounted on a medical wall containing numerous other medical devices, a typical application of the prior art track bolt assemblies would comprise a single track having numerous bolt assemblies mounted therein. Movement of one bolt assembly with respect to another along the same track wall is allowable so long as the bolt assemblies were spaced with respect to one another. Due to the captive holding of the bolt assembly within the rectangular area of the track, the only way the bolt assemblies could be switched, removed, or otherwise moved outside of the space between the individual bolt assemblies was to move each bolt assembly to the enlarged opening of the track and remove each one individually. Thus, if there were four track bolt assemblies on a single track with the enlarged opening on the track at the bottom of the track beneath the last mounted bolt assembly, and one desires to remove the first mounted bolt assembly, all three other track bolt assemblies had to first be removed through the enlarged opening before the first mounted track bolt assembly could be removed.
In medical wall applications, particularly in emergency rooms and other intensive care patient areas, this procedure can become time consuming and distracting for the medical staff. Also, since various types of utility medical items are mounted on each bolt assembly, if one item was needed to be moved over another and was not in the proper position due to the mounting of other bolt assemblies beneath it, the entire assembly would have to be removed from the track before the individual utility item could be adjusted. This entails a great inconvenience to medical personnel and hampers the effectiveness of the track assembly concept in medical applications.
Thus, there is a need in the field for a track bolt assembly which may be mounted directly onto the rectangular portion of the track without the need for the bolt assembly to be placed first in an enlarged opening in the track. Further, there is a need in the field for a track bolt assembly that will be removeable from the track without first moving the bolt assembly to an enlarged opening. Further, there is a need in the field for such a removeable bolt assembly that still has the ability to move within the rectangular opening of the track to adjust to varying locations on the track.